Gareth Thompson, Cade Carmichael and Amy Caufield were the winners from the NCU at the Cricket Ireland awards.

Thompson was recognised for his coaching work with CSNI, Muckamore's Caufield won the women's club player award, while Instonians' South African born Irish passport holder Cade Carmichael picked up an Emerging Player award.

Amy Caulfield beat off the challenge of Alana Dalzell and Leah Paul to collect her prize.

Amy is the captain of Muckamore 1st XI and has been a catalyst for growing the game both at her club and around the NCU for the last six seasons. She is also the captain of the NCU senior team and had a standout year with selection for the Dragons in the Super series coming as a result of her outstanding domestic performances over the last number of seasons.

A seam bowling allrounder who was one of the outstanding players in the NCU domestic game during the 2022 season. With the bat she scored a phenomenal 414 runs at an average of 69.00 for Muckamore  to dominate the batting charts. Amy picked up the women’s Premier League Batter of the Year and All-rounder of the Year awards at the NCU Annual Awards in October 2022.

Amy’s contribution to cricket in 2022 does not stop with playing. She was co-opted onto the NCU Board in February 2022, has sat on the NCU Domestic Cricket Directorate for a number of years and is also a prominent member of the newly established NCU Women’s Committee.

Cade Carmichael 20 year-old Instonians allrounder made steady progress throughout 2022. He made his debut for the Northern Knights, scoring 79 runs at 26.33 in five games over the summer, and was also part of the Ireland Development squad that took on Gloucestershire’s 2nd XI in a 4-day Red Ball game in June.

He also played for the Ireland Academy side against England’s U19s, where he scored 92 with the bat.

At club level he scored 568 runs at 47.33 with three fifties and one century.

Gareth Thompson has been the main catalyst behind the rapid rise of the women’s game within CSNI CC and is a significant contributor to the women’s game across the NCU.

He established, and has led, a women’s coaching structure within CSNI for several years, and in 2022 that commitment really started to pay off with the club teams achieving some outstanding results.

This included the senior team achieving a clean sweep of NCU domestic trophies and reaching the final of the All-Ireland T20 Cup competition.

 The second team also won the Challenge Plate. The club had an amazing five players playing who made their debuts in the Super Series during the 2022 season with a further four club members playing for the Irish junior age group teams.

Gareth’s vision, commitment and passion has led to a massive growth in the women’s game at CSNI where the club fields teams at every age level and currently has two senior teams and are looking at the possibility of introducing a third team in the 2023 season.

Gareth is also a coach within the NCU’s women’s development pathway and plays a pivotal role in the development of the next generation of talent. Gareth is also a member of the NCU Women’s Cricket Committee which was established in 2022 to support the drive to enhance the women and girls’ game across the NCU.